University of Tennessee Athletics
Rick Barnes Press Conference (2.8.16)
February 08, 2016 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes held his weekly press conference on Monday at the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Barnes looked ahead to Tuesday's home fixture with Auburn, rehashed some of the miscues that stood out in Saturday's loss at Arkansas, and discussed the growth and development of the program's youngest players.
A full transcript from Monday's press conference can be found below.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes
(On the first meeting with Auburn on Jan. 2)
"When you go back to January, most teams change (from then to now). I would like to think that we are a better team, and I think Bruce Pearl would feel the same thing (about his team). Kareem Canty is a good player, but when you go back to our game down there, he played well, but there were some other guys that hurt us, too. It wasn't like he was the one guy that beat us when we were down there. There are other guys that we are going to have to deal with. January was a long time ago, and the fact is I do think we are a better team, but we are so up-and-down that I don't know what to tell you to expect. We seem to think we are going to turn the corner in some ways, and then we revert back to doing something that isn't very good."
(On Tennessee's defensive struggles on the road)
"That is a tough one to answer. We always try to look and analyze and keep things as much in a pattern as we can, but I don't know. Sometimes, you leave a timeout and guys can't remember what you said 30 or 45 seconds ago. I don't think it is just us. If you look around the country, other teams struggle with the same type of things, but for various reasons. You have to come back, analyze and then keep fighting forward. It's the little things... We have to have more than two guys playing well for us. When we are playing good basketball, we are getting more of an all-around team effort, and we haven't gotten much of that on the road. The only time I can say we did it was the one game that we won at Mississippi State. When you think about it, a lot of guys made some plays in that game, and it was without Armani Moore."
(On if he expected the team to struggle Saturday at Arkansas)
"Yeah, that has been our pattern. It is not a great feeling when you go into games wondering who is going to show up and who is not. When I say `show up,' I don't want you to think that guys don't care. I don't know if it is a mindset or a comfort level. I don't know. When you go on the road and you are like we are, you have to have more than two guys ready to play. We haven't gotten it consistently. You guys have watched us and you know. Kevin (Punter) and Armani have been pretty consistent all year. We put a lot on those guys, and you think about the minutes they play... they play almost every minute in practice. We need all of our players to help us. We are really happy with our younger players. If you go back and look at what Kyle (Alexander), Shembari (Phillips) and Admiral (Schofield) have done, they have been getting a lot of quality minutes. They have combined to average 17.3 points over the last three games, which has been good, but we still have a lot of basketball to be played, and it is consistency. I will tell you what we tell them: It goes back to preparation two days out. It goes back to practice. You can win a lot of games during that time, but you can lose a lot of games as well."
(On other players helping take the load off Armani Moore and Kevin Punter's shoulders)
"You keep coaching. You have to find ways. You try to get to the core of it. You try to get them to a correct mindset. Every guy has a different mindset. You have to look at where we think Robert (Hubbs) is and Devon (Baulkman) is, and I think they are both great kids with great hearts. When it comes to basketball, they both have different issues in terms of why they do not play well. You have to be able to spend time with them, talk to them about it. I don't think you can just push it to the side and think it will take care of itself. As long as they are willing to be coached... that is what coaching is. It is an everyday kind of situation. As much as you worry about the physical aspect, the mental aspect is just as important. You just simply talk about it with them, you talk about it as a team. They all need each other. I will say that when most guys aren't playing well they feel like they are on an island by themselves. They are just thinking about themselves. Coaches use a lot of different clichés about getting lost in the game and doing this and that, and I do think when most guys struggle they are being one-sided and all they are thinking about is taking shots. When they do that it really affects them. You can tell in their body language. No one went through a tougher time than Armani. He went through a couple games there where you could tell he doubted himself. Players go through that. The thing is, he put more time into it and he started controlling the things he can control. He got back into the team and stopped worrying about making a shot or a free throw. He just played the game. We have a good group of guys. If they keep working at it, we will keep fighting with them. We will help teach them to get through those demons they have to deal with."
(On players being engaged mentally)
"I think it's confidence as much as anything. We were able to overcome a deficit here with Kentucky and we were really good defensively. We weren't good in the first four possessions of the game at Arkansas. We were not very good. I'm talking about the little things, showing on the screens, talking on the transitions, getting back, and you wonder why. We actually showed in practice the night before (the Arkansas game that) we were really locked in defensively. We never once got there during the game. All five guys being in a stance... that is what is baffling. We have to get them to understand that we cannot leave it on the practice court. We have got to move it forward and get out there. They know it. For instance, you guys have heard us talk about guys getting to the corner, and we watched tape and some guys still don't do it. We ask why and they say `I don't know.' We won't let that slide. They do know. What it gets down to is commitment. Doing your job. A guy can't execute a play because of spacing, and that is simple commitment, and I think that comes down to--where their minds are. The are thinking that they have to make a shot as opposed to going through the process. They want the results real quick, and it doesn't happen that way."
(On the best thing that Auburn does)
"I think they're like most teams: if they get a chance to take advantage of you, they can. On the offensive end, I think they do a really good job of executing their offense. I think they know what they're looking for, and they're going to work hard at making all their possessions count."
(On where he'd like to see freshman Shembari Phillips progress)
"In terms of this season, I think the game is slowly slowing down for him a little bit. I think he's starting to see it different, where he doesn't have to do something every time he gets the ball. We've always thought he could be a defender. He's done a pretty good job guarding the ball. He would tell you that he's still working to be a better defensive player away from the ball, where he doesn't ball watch. His ceiling will be his commitment to it--you know, how much he wants to grow. He's had a great example in Kevin Punter. They all have. He's got a great example in Lamonté Turner. Lamonté is like Kevin. He's in the gym constantly. The ceiling will depend on his commitment to a great work ethic when the season's over. This time of year, they're going to do what they need to be doing. It's when the season's over and they'll have a little more time, the guys that have that high ceiling are the ones that are going to utilize that time to get in the gym."
(On what he's seeing from Lamonté Turner)
"He's helped us this year. I think he's helped Kevin [Punter] a lot in practice, Kevin having to guard him. Obviously, Lamonte's learning our system, which is going to help him going forward. He's going to be a terrific player. I don't think there's any question when you work as hard as he works. He is a guy that loves being in there. He really wants to be coached. He's one of those guys that you love. When you tell him to do something and you walk out of the gym, he's going to do what you tell him. He's been a really nice addition to us. Obviously we wish he was playing, but the fact is he's helped us in his own way just by what he's done in practice. Going forward, you talk about the ceiling, he's one of those guys with these other young guys that we're expecting to be the guys that are going to lead the way going forward."
(On Lamonté Turner's work ethic during his redshirt season)
"I think he has struggled a little bit, but I don't think he ever struggled on the court because he loves basketball. You can tell he loves it. I don't think it is easy for what he has had to go through. Like I tell him everyday, he is closer and closer to being eligible. Shembari and these other guys are going to be sophomores before you know it, and he is going to be a sophomore, but with four years left. When the season is over with, he is just like those guys getting ready for next year. The fact that he has been in it--he cares. You watch him during a game. It tells you a lot when you watch him during a game. He is locked in. The other night during the game that we were playing Kentucky, we watch these guys, and they get tired. Somebody yelled out to me, 'It looks like Detrick is getting tired.' I heard one of the coaches say, 'Who do you want to get for Detrick?' Lamonte said, 'Detrick? He just made a three, Coach. Leave him in.' He is engaged. He gets excited for the guys during the game. That part of it is good. He will be a really good teammate and has been a good teammate for these guys. Like all young guys, he is learning how to play defense. That has probably been his hardest thing. All kids love to play on the offensive end, but in practice in the last month, he has really worked harder on that end. He needs to."
